ARYA TRIADI517739

ARCHITECTUREDESIGNSTUDIO

AIRJOURNAL

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PART A. CASE FOR INNOVATION

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION 03

DIGITAL EXPERIENCE

ARCHITECTURE AS A DISCOURSE

COMPUTATIONAL ARCHITECTURE

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PARAMETRIC MODELING

PART B. DESIGN APPROACH

PART C. PROJECT PROPOSAL

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INTRODUCTION

Hello! My name is Arya Triadi and I am 19 years old. I originally come from Indonesia and moved to Melbourne in 2009 to undertake my degree at Melbourne University. I am doing Bachelor of Environments and currently in my third year, majoring in Architecture.

I have always enjoyed drawing, especially blind drawing, whenever I have spare time. Ever since i was a kid, flora and fauna always intrigue me. Nature has always been a huge inspiration for my drawings, mainly because of the uniqueness of the shape.

Using digitial softwares is not my strong point but as I get to learn more about architecture world, I begin to see the importance of technologies in relations to visualising and commmunicating design concepts, especially in this modern era we live in. I am eager to learn what this subject has to offer!

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Experience in Digital Software

My first involvement in digital software was in my first year at Melbourne University under the subject Virtual Environments. Choosing a natural process, making a model out of clay, then digitise it by using Rhinoceros to form curves and surfaces that will be unfolded into strips so that it can be fabricated, were the tasks that the students had to do. The design I made represents the shape of mushroom cloud. The intention was to represent the shape through the shadow that the model casts.

Being exposed to the use of digital software as a way to communicate design concepts (not a generative tool) was the starting point to my understanding in digital architecture and its importance in the realm of architecture.

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PART ACASE FOR

INNOVATION

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A1. ARCHITECTURE AS A DISCOURSE

“Works of architecture frame our lives; we inhabit them; they define our movement through cities; they moralise and discipline, or attempt to” Richard Williams

The word Architecture is not an alien term amongst people, yet it is rather hard to define. I used to think that architecture is about constructing awe-inspiring, beautiful buildings; a form of art, without realising the functionality and the ‘story ‘ beyond those magnificent structures. Now that I have delved deeper understanding of what architecture really is, I became aware that it is not merely a form of art; there are aspects of architecture that need to take into account to fully understand the very reason of the existence of architecture itself.

Architecture ?

So what is architecture?

This query cannot realistically be answered. The purpose of the question is to provoke discussion about the subject and consequently redefine the subject and drive it to new directions. Architecture is inevitable as we encounter it in our daily basis; as Richard Williams (2005) states that “Works of architecture frame our lives, we inhabit them, … defines our movement through cities...”. It is important to see architecture as a holistic product of social, political and cultural values mediated by built environment, rather than just perceiving it merely as expressionless forms of art (Williams, 2005). This means that a building is not as simple as an enclosed space for human beings to live in, to move through, but is a product of a genius mind, personifying the building’s aesthetic value that satisfies clients’ needs; architects work within these parameters.

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Overall, perceiving architecture as a mere form of art can be seen as a misleading approach in understanding them. When one thinks about architecture, the relationship between the built environment and the surrounding is essential to consider and must question oneself; What is the purpose of the building? Why do the façade and its structure look like the way the architects designed them to be? Who is involved in this building? Who is the audience? et cetera. Williams specifically stated in his essay on Architecture and Visual Culture (2005) that interpreting architecture can be approached in two other ways besides perceiving it as artwork; understanding of it as a sign or symbol and spatial experience that architecture offers. It then becomes possible to think about architecture as something in which all aspects can participate.

Now that technologies have gathered its momentum, architecture has developed rapidly along with it. Creation of fluid-like buildings has started to appear across the world. Taking Zaha Hadid’s proposal for Beko complex as an example, the purpose of the building is to revive the spirit of modernity that Belgrade once possessed. By looking at Zaha’s work, it is clear and evident that architecture has evolved into an immortal and fluid state, continuously revitalizing and revising according to the brief given by clients; both societal and cultural value surrounding it. The meaning of a building is dependant on its relation with other things around it at the time and on what the beholder brought to it. What this implies in terms of architecture is an approach that is quite distinct from that of architecture as art. There is another meaning of building; Beko Building is a best exemplar to this perspective.

In other words, works of architecture always depend on the drivers and this what makes architecture everlasting and ever changing. It is an eternally adapting and reinventing system of communication; otherwise described by Patrik Schumacher as autopoiesis (Schumacher, 2011). Moreover, a piece of architecture influences the interactions amongst its users, it gathers participants, distinguishes and separates spaces and acts as a framework for communications (Schumacher, 2011). Building has its own symbolic value and this expanded the perspective of architectural discourse.

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“Our minds are amazingly complex

machines and our aim is to unravel some

of their mysteries in a truely memorable

fashion”

PRECEDENTS - ZAHA HADID

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BEKO MASTERPLANThe Awakening of Belgrade’s Spirit of Modernism

The BEKO complex masterplan focuses on urban regeneration of a currently inaccessible site in the capital of Serbia, Belgrade. The proposed development is a cluster of building that will accommodate a five star hotel, shopping centre, galleries and underground parking facilities for visitors and residents (Jodidio P., 2012).

What really fascinates me is the form of the building itself; asymmetrical lines, curved ground plans and oblique planes, which are the typical characteristic feature of Hadid’s architectural style. Strong connection between nature, users of the building and the region’s strong Modernist tradition are clearly delivered in the positioning and fluid form of the building itself. Public, private, indoor and outdoor spaces are fused together by flow lines, as each space is meant to seamlessly connect to one another and this immediately reflects the “complexity of twenty-first century living patterns”(Jodidio P., 2012). The flow lines give the complex a very avant-garde touch and architecturally are recognisable parametric style of the famous Zaha Hadid. As the building embeds itself into the landscape, the connection between users and the nature is enhanced by the public green spaces encapsulated within the building complex.

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BEKO MASTERPLANThe Awakening of Belgrade’s Spirit of Modernism

Modern architecture is born of a common desire for change, to alter not only the land, but also living conditions for the users (Taschen L. 2010). However, progression towards modernism in Belgrade was intermittent and disrupted by a series of events in the thirties, fifties and seventies (ZHA website, 2013). Knowing the site’s history, Hadid combines her signature style of parametricism and the Modernism style that Belgrade once had, resulting in the magnificent Beko complex. This exquisite architectural form will refresh the potentials of this part of the city and will continue being appreciated as it fills and revives the Serbian capital spirit of modernism that it once possessed

The challenge is how Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA) can communicate the design intention to the world, how to make people read this as a shift towards parametricism style yet in tune with the tradition of Belgrade. The Beko masterplan moves away from traditional modernist notions of urban zoning and functionalist separation, enhancing the relationships between the components of each program and creating a living fusion between public and private urbanism. Zaha stated that the design intention is to make the building complex flow from one section to another into a series of “ever-changing topographical adjacencies producing a rich variety of uses and activities” (Schumacher P., 2008).

Meanwhile, architecture finds itself at the mid-point of an ongoing cycle of innovative adaptation – retooling the discipline and adapting the architectural and urban environment to the socio-economic in the modern era. The key issue is that avant-garde architecture should address the discourse by organizing and articulating the increased complexity of the evolving society through innovative building style. The task is to develop an architectural and urban repertoire that is geared up to create complex, polycentric urban and architectural fields that are densely layered and continuously differentiated. Zaha’s design confronts this idea of change in society. By using this fluid-form, the building will announce and communicate itself to the world that a shift towards new styles in architectural realm has arrived. It acts as a reminder to the people the evolving style of building from modernism to new style that Schumacher refers it as parametricism.

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PRECEDENTS - RENZO PIANO“Architecture is not just about

making making buildings,

it is a way to tell stories and

express feelings”

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TJIBAOU CULTURAL CENTREA Blend of Tradition and Modernity

Renzo Piano designed Tjibaou Cultural Centre to immortalise the assassinated leading figure in the campaign for recognition of the Kanak culture. The building also complements the tradition and climate of the region (Taschen L., 2010). Built on the island of New Caledonia in 1991, Piano nestled the buildings in the vegetation and took inspiration from a traditional Kanak village.

Harmonious relationship between contemporary architecture and the surrounding nature is achieved through the utilisation of traditional materials; wood and stone and modern materials; aluminium and steel (Taschen L., 2010). The cultural centre consists of 10 units, as Piano refers it as cases and they rise from the bush in a series of tall curved wooden structures. Arranged into three clusters with one tall hut in each cluster, they represent the indigenous forms of the Kanak’s “Great Houses”.

Piano fashioned a series of open sided towers whose crisply cut finger components emulate the halfway stage in the centuries-old Kanak technique of raising their conical palm sapling hut roofs. Instead of binding the ends together to form a peak, Piano left them pointing to the sky, symbolising the continuation of growth of the culture (Cattermole P., 2007).

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TJIBAOU CULTURAL CENTREA Blend of Tradition and Modernity

"...to create a symbol ...a cultural centre devoted to Kanak civilization, the place that would represent them to foreigners that would pass on their memory to their

grand children". Richard Williams

Aside from representing the strong cultural sense, Piano also laminated the building with African teak or iroko ribs and stainless steel to ventilate the adjoining low-lying structures, prevailing breeze passing over their slanting roofs creating currents that draw fresh air through the interior. Conveying not only the aesthetic value of the building, functionality of the structures is also emphasised. The ribs are not merely a decorational element but it is there for the purpose of ventilation in response to the region’s climate (Taschen L., 2010).

As the cultural centre is engulfed in the original vegetation that surrounds it, meandering trails exist to connect these “modern huts”. These pathways are reminiscent of the ceremonial alley of the traditional Kanak village. Understanding Kanak’s culture and utilising the conditions of the region, Piano managed to create something powerful out of it. The culture of Kanak will continue being expressed for as long as the building exists. This completes Piano’s main argument on how architecture is not just making beautiful building, but to convey stories behind it.

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TJIBAOU CULTURAL CENTRERenzo Piano and architectural discourse

The issues raised from the architectural discourse lead to the questions of whether technologies will remove the existence of traditional culture, whether or not architecture will reach the state of equilibrium between traditions and technologies, whether or not the built environment will create harmonious relationship with social environment. Piano seems to be able to tackle these issues in his architectural work. Holding on to his principle of creating building as a medium to convey stories to its audience has successfully made him a master in producing powerful buildings. It is not merely a form of art; it is something that people can and will continue to celebrate.

Furthermore, Piano did not disregard the functionality of the building; it functions as cultural centre of New Caledonia with an objective to ensure that the Kanak culture would not lose touch with its historical roots. Looking from both cultural and economical perspectives, this building has successfully created such powerful relationship between social, cultural, economical and built environment.

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Computer aided design programs play significant role in the process of designing Tjibaou Cultural Centre. Through these CAD programs, Piano was able to foresee the possible outcome of his design through prototype model fabricated from digital drawings (Cattermole P., 2007). Using computers to calculate the angle of the roofs, required strength of the joints, to predict the direction of the sunlight and the flow and current of the wind, has resulted in a very precise, strong building without forgetting about its aesthetic and functional value. Despite the fact that technologies have played major role in the design process, Piano manages to approach the issues regarding the balance of technological and traditional value by emphasising the traditional, vernacular architecture through the use of building materials and the shape of the building.

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A2. COMPUTATIONAL ARCHITECTURE

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The use of technologies has been widely used in architectural world especially in this modern era we live in. With the development of numerous Computer Aided Design and other software packages, the variety of design processes available to architects is greater than ever. Computer software has enabled architects to conceive and construct designs that would be very difficult to develop using traditional methods.

Digital architecture can be defined as the application of digital media into any phase of design concept and development in architecture. There are numbers of benefits of using computer programs in architectural design process.

What is digital architecture?

Accuracy & Time efficiency

The translation of computer-generated data is not a one-way street; the initial benefit of computer design principally related to its suitability for repetitive work, as it facilitated the use of ‘copy’, ‘cut’, ‘paste’, ‘undo’ and ‘redo’ commands. This enables architects to very quickly add, reposition parts of a drawing, compared to the traditional technique, which requires one to erase the drawings manually with eraser. This results in rapid construction and transformation of designs through simple stages. Computers allow design development and refinement a lot easier due to its automating ability to produce accurate drawings. This means that digital programs offer greater flexibility in terms of modifying and experimenting with designs that can be achieved more easily in a time-efficient manner.

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Visualisation,Communication & Liberation of forms

Another important feature of digital software is its ability to develop complex curvilinear geometries that is relatively difficult to do using traditional design. Computer manipulation can help designers to fully visualize the unimaginable complex situations in designing process.

Since technologies and architecture became inseparable, shapes and forms are now more liberated and avant-garde. This is the result of experimentations with surfaces that still continues in the present time, as architects explore the nature of facades as “fluid skins” (works of Zaha Hadid is the best exemplar regarding “fluidity” of building skins, as described previously on the precedents section). This extensive use of curvilinear geometry have led to further innovation and investigation which then leads to the emergence of more and more complex geometries. The aid of the computer will then assist architects or any other users to communicate to clients.

Ability to “Blobify” - Birth of “BLOBitecture”

Before digital technologies, curved surfaces and forms were the products of approximations using tangents to “circular arcs and straight line segments” (Dunn N., Digital Fabrication in Architecture, 2012). In freeing the designer from the constraints of Cartesian space, digital modeling programs typically use the topological geometry of continuous curves and surfaces, also known as “rubber sheet” geometry- NURBS, Non-Uniform Rational B-Splines (Kolarevic B., Architecture in Digital Age, 2003). The curves and surfaces produced by NURBS provide a high degree of control by the users through the use of control points thus it is easy to imagine how the resultant formation or deformation is affected if one modifies certain points. These organic, curvy, BLOBBY forms became feasible as technologies developed.

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The needs of suitable mechanisms, by which architects may control design appearance and performance, became apparent with the vast possibilities of forms that technologies offer. This is where the role of computer software comes to the fore, as it affords the designer a level of command over creative ideas. This might include how the building may sit and reacts to its surrounding environments, to test whether the lighting and shadow that the building casts will actually work based on design intentions, etc. Being able to predict the design outcome is one of the most significant points regarding computational architecture.

Ability to predict design outcome & consequences

One must be mindful that design concepts itself come from designers’ or architects’ creative mind, it is not a product of generative tools. Computers are to generate forms and outcomes and follow the instructions given, they are not able to solve the design problems. Human’s ability to solve architectural problems, combined with computer’s ability to generate accurate results will create a powerful design system.

Understanding of computational architecture

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A3. PARAMETRIC MODELING

While these words are one way to describe what parametric design is, Schumacher defines the term as a design method where the output is generated by a set of mathematical rules, algorithm. Wilson, Robert and Frank (1999) define algorithm as a list of operations applied mechanically and systematically to virtual machines; computers. Parametric design enables the designer to define relationships between elements or groups of elements, and to assign values or expressions to organise and control those definitions. Parametric design focuses on the direct interactions of the users with design elements - adding, subtracting, copying, etc. Architects may at any time alter the values or equations that form the relationship between elements and the effects of these chages will be incorporated into the sysem, which reflects them visually (Dunn N., 2012). This means that the relationships are subsequently edited as the architect observes the effects of revisions, as the connected system of elements evolves and the desired results are chosen based on relevant ‘performative’ and aesthetic criteria.

Generative /Computational / Digital /

Computer Aided

What is Parametric Design?

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Parametric design is another tool that enables architects to visualise and construct innovative building designs with high precision. As avant-garde architectural styles begin to emerge, more intricate forms are introduced to architectural world. Thanks to the ability of digital softwares to analyse and reconstruct design criteria, it makes what once seemed impossible, possible.

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PART BDESIGN

APPROACH

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PART CPROJECT

PROPOSAL